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Posted by
4758 posts

Well shame on them for thinking they could circumvent the current policies, regardless of their mode of transport. I'm glad to see they were given the boot.

Posted by
2281 posts

hey hey folks
LOL
next time you and your pilot needs to read policies, rules about quarantine and who's allowed.
"entitlement and priviledge" they feel bestowed with. as CJean says glad they got booted out, maybe they'll be forbidden to enter italy.
aloha

Posted by
3809 posts

Clueless rich US Americans or entitled rich US Americans... we will never know.

Posted by
398 posts

But what if I come in by mega yacht? That’s ok, right?

(Kidding if course. If I had even a dinky yacht, I’d already be in the Mediterranean).

Posted by
15678 posts

I'm not giving the passengers a pass but I'm curious why the pilot wasn't aware of the restrictions?

Posted by
11027 posts

Anyone recognize what the plane is? Does it really have the range to fly from Colorado to Italy non-stop? How did they get clearance to go to Italy?

The only smiling face in this is the fuel dealer at the airport. He made an unexpected sale.

Posted by
4138 posts

Maybe they thought that Cagliari, on the southern tip of Sardinia, isn't really Italy? 😉

Posted by
8377 posts

If the pilot doesn't fly, she doesn't get paid.

Posted by
4256 posts

I bet they thought they'd be able to sneak in with the others in their party who were from countries acceptable to the EU.

Posted by
67 posts

Hawker-Siddely 900XP, range is around 3200 miles, so no, it didn't fly nonstop to Italy from Denver.

Posted by
3514 posts

This sounds like a repeat of an earlier very similar story from the beginning of lockdowns in April. That plane was going to France after stopping in a London airport.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/private-jet-turned-back-cannes-france/index.html

The organizer of this trip was Croatian and "He told authorities he had "a lot of money" and wanted "to just pay a fine or whatever and go to Cannes" They refused.

I guess it shows money isn't everything.

Posted by
4758 posts

.... why the pilot wasn't aware of the restrictions?

Not the pilot's job, unless he owned the jet. He's just the driver.

How did they get clearance to go to Italy?

The same way any jet gets clearance- they file a flight plan for an airport that accepts that type/size of aircraft. Aircraft aren't banned. Flights go between Europe and the US every day.

Posted by
32171 posts

It's nice to see that the rich folks got a rude awakening, and a reminder that even money won't allow them to flaunt the rules. That was undoubtedly an expensive lesson for them (but I'm sure they can afford it).

Posted by
367 posts

I'm surprised to tell you the truth. I thought we lived in a world where someone who can afford to do that doesn't have to follow the rules the rest of us have to follow.

Posted by
7449 posts

Hawker-Siddely 900XP, range is around 3200 miles, so no, it didn't fly nonstop to Italy from Denver.

However, do not assume the plane in the photo is the plane they flew, that appears to be a stock photo of "private plane", despite what the movies do, they do not roll out a red carpet for every arrival.

Any of the later Gulfstream models (G600, G650, G700) can do that route with fuel to spare, especially with a 10 passenger load.

I do not fault the Pilot, they just file a flight plan, EU airspace is not restricted, just entry.

Posted by
3514 posts

Well, isn't a radiologist, a medical person, in that exempted group for quarantine in Hawaii?

Posted by
3514 posts

Sorry, I meant that as a sarcastic response knowing the exemption for medical persons is only for those coming to Hawaii to work in the hospitals and clinics there, not someone who just happens to have a place there and wants to travel.

I am just overly frustrated that many of us are trying to do the right thing to prevent the spread of the disease as best we can, yet there are those who seem to think rules don't apply to them because they are somehow special.

Posted by
8377 posts

". . . there are those who seem to think rules don't apply to them because they are somehow special. . . "

As someone so eloquently put it recently,

"That's been the story of life"

Posted by
4758 posts

Thanks for posting Frank II. All I can say, from reading the article, is that whoever was the spokesman for the group sounds like an ignorant, self entitled jerk.

Posted by
11027 posts

There were a total of 10 (sic) passengers onboard the flight:
There were six adults, including two Americans, two Brits, a New Zealander, and an Italian
There were five children, including three Americans and two Germans

Apart from the interesting math, its an eclectic mix of nationalities.

Posted by
3809 posts

Clueless rich US Americans or entitled rich US Americans... we will
never know.

I guess we do know. Entitled!

Posted by
3809 posts

...and where were the parents of the German kids?

Posted by
4138 posts

Sometimes I think that people who whine that things aren't "fair" don't really know what the definitions of fair are. They seem to think that fair means consistent with what they want.

For future reference, here's what Merriam Webster lists as definitions of fair. They lean more toward following the rules than anything else.

And here's what the Cambridge Dictionary says about fair.

The guy who wants to sue, apparently has no clue.

Posted by
15678 posts

The guy who wants to sue, apparently has no clue.

Except that the "guy" is female and was the sole Italian passenger! A few paragraphs lifted from this article and google-translated from Italian:

https://www.castedduonline.it/io-sarda-respinta-a-elmas-con-i-miei-amici-americani-trattati-come-delinquenti-chiedo-i-danni/

Federica Fanari, a 37-year-old entrepreneur, is one of 6 adult
passengers who arrived from the US by private jet and sent back: "My
friends had to evaluate the purchase of some companies, they no longer
want to set foot on the island.... I have already spoken to my lawyer.

Federica Fanari, a 37-year-old entrepreneur in the e-commerce sector
of Oristano, residing for a year in Germany: she is the only Sardinian
passenger of the private jet,
which took off from Eagle in Colorado
and landed yesterday morning at Elmas airport.

But who was aboard that jet? Fanari, of course. And then? "A New
Zealander, two Brits, two Americans and five children, three Americans
and two with a German passport, are my children," explains Fanari. The
reason for the trip? "I wanted to see my family, and friends had to
evaluate the purchase of some companies and a house. After this, they
told me that they will never return to Sardinia, "says the
entrepreneur.

She is very angry, Federica Fanari: “We have been treated as if we
were criminals, it is not fair. Also, who will reimburse all the
anticipated expenses and money? I'm talking about the double flight,
about the money for the cars that were waiting for us outside the
airport and the house. I have to go to my lawyer to find out what can
be done. I want to ask for damages ".

Posted by
3514 posts

Well, she should have verified the restrictions before boarding the plane.

Once again, someone with money who thinks restrictions don't apply to them, so get the lawyers involved to spend more money and by the time it all gets settled it won't matter anyway.

Posted by
15678 posts

True, she should have.
Just noting that the person first to scream "Lawsuit!" isn't one of the two Americans more directly responsible for the mess.

I haven't looked it up but is someone with a UK or New Zealand passport allowed into Italy/Sardinia directly after visiting the U.S. or are they just subject to a 14-day quarantine? I believe I also read that foreigners allowed into Sardinia must submit a "Sardegna Sicura" registration form in advance of the trip? It looks like this:

https://sus.regione.sardegna.it/sus/covid19/regimbarco/init?lang=en

Posted by
3809 posts

The business purpose of the trip would have been more believable without 5 kids on the plane.

Posted by
4138 posts

Based on the list here Council agrees to start lifting travel restrictions for residents of some third countries , the Brits weren't supposed to be allowed in, either.

That all may be irrelevant and the big issue for the others beyond that may be the fact that they all were in the USA and left from there.

Considering the timing, it does seem like someone was trying to sneak them in. And that someone was looking for a big payday. Follow the money.